Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Definition of "uku"

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Definition of "uku"

    Does anyone know what "uku" means other than lice? and not short for ukulele. A friend told me that I needed to pronounce something "like one uku" but "not the uku uku but the tita kind uku" in order for something to make sense to me. I never heard of any other kind of uku and dunno what a "tita kind uku" means.

  • #2
    Re: Definition of "uku"

    .
    Adri --Does anyone know what "uku" means other than lice? and not short for ukulele. A friend told me that I needed to pronounce something "like one uku" but "not the uku uku but the tita kind uku" in order for something to make sense to me. I never heard of any other kind of uku and dunno what a "tita kind uku" means.--

    Try go to a public elementary school and ask for the standard reprint of "UKU" that the DoE mandates. I wonder... do charter schools have a concern re: UKUs?

    It's likely that "UKU" has other meanings in context of Hawai'ian language. Being a dummy myself as to such contexts/usages, I have nothing to offer, other than to say that I never heard any Hawaiian say "UKU" for the abbreviated way to say "ukulele". In fact, I do not recall Hawaiians ever using an abbreviated version of ANY of their vocabulary.

    Could it be that only Euro-Americans are abbreviators of words and concepts? Facilitating the rush toward oblivious meanings, obliviousness?
    Last edited by waioli kai; September 12, 2006, 05:53 PM.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Definition of "uku"

      You get two "uku" definitions.

      Uku the lice version.

      Uku the fish version: Uku Gray Snapper or Job Fish Summer!

      Auntie Lynn
      Be AKAMAI ~ KOKUA Hawai`i!
      Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Definition of "uku"

        He wants you to talk like a crab

        Maybe he's calling you a member of the The decapods.
        or Decapoda are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crayfish, CRABS, lobsters, prawns and shrimp.
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapoda
        or maybe even this:
        In most decapods, the gonopores (sexual openings) are found on the legs

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crabs

        Just kidding... on the mainland "head lice" is often called crabs... I've only heard Uku's as a reference to "head lice" but who knows.... ?

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Definition of "uku"

          Originally posted by manoasurfer123
          He wants you to talk like a crab

          Maybe he's calling you a member of the The decapods.
          You would be getting ukapila whack whacks but today is your BD so you not!

          Auntie Lynn
          Be AKAMAI ~ KOKUA Hawai`i!
          Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Definition of "uku"

            'uku is lice.

            uku is payment. Ka'u uku no ka hana: my wages for working. What was the context again? I cannot figure out what a "tita kind uku" is, and considering that I AM a tita, I should be able to deduce it.

            Or, did the person doing the talking know what the heck s/he was talking about?

            pax

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Definition of "uku"

              The "Tita Uku" is Uku Slaps!!!! hahahahahah

              Auntie Lynn
              Be AKAMAI ~ KOKUA Hawai`i!
              Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Definition of "uku"

                Originally posted by waioli kai
                .
                It's likely that "UKU" has other meanings in context of Hawai'ian language. Being a dummy myself as to such contexts/usages, I have nothing to offer, other than to say that I never heard any Hawaiian say "UKU" for the abbreviated way to say "ukulele". In fact, I do not recall Hawaiians ever using an abbreviated version of ANY of their vocabulary.
                *hangs my head in shame* I googled for uku definitions since I couldn't think of any other kind of uku other than lice and I thought there was a mention of "uku" as short for ukulele.

                Happy Birthday Manoa (and whacks you once for each year of your age)

                Well, thank you guys, I didn't realize there were other definitions for "uku" (payment or even the fishy kind).

                The context is this: I dunno why but my friends were talking about how we have some sayings that are particular to Hawaii. "No worry, beef curry" was mentioned as one. A friend said that we could also say, "No worry, strawberry" because that rhymed too. There was disagreement that it rhymed. The friend said it would rhyme if I said "strawberry" like one uku (not the lice kine uku but the tita kind uku).

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Definition of "uku"

                  I have *no clue* what pretty thoughts ran through the mind of the uku-sayer.

                  pax

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Definition of "uku"

                    In addition to `uku as lice, specifically, doesn't it also get used to describe other little bodily insect infestations? The use of `uku in `ukulele is commonly translated as "flea" (as in "jumping flea.")

                    The typical abbreviation of the instrument is "uke," commonly pronounced "yook," which goes with the "yook-uh-lay-lee" way of saying it.

                    Which makes my ears hurt, even though it scans better in the hapa-haole song "`Ukulele Lady" than the more accurate "oo-koo-leh-leh."

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Definition of "uku"

                      I don't profess to have any knowledge of the Hawaiian language, but to me, the word "uku" is that barbed seed that stick to your clothes when you walk in the bushes. Now, where did I get that ???

                      Is it because these seeds "jump" on you like lice?
                      Born in Hawaii, too - Truss me

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Definition of "uku"

                        Originally posted by Palama Kid
                        I don't profess to have any knowledge of the Hawaiian language, but to me, the word "uku" is that barbed seed that stick to your clothes when you walk in the bushes. Now, where did I get that ???
                        You mean "kuku" (it is a pain to get kuku off of your pants after running through the weeds, and it is painful when you step on a kuku barefoot and your mom had to pull it off!!!)

                        plenty of kuku traumas in my childhood!

                        pax

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Definition of "uku"

                          In the hawaiian dictionary by Mary Kawena Puku'i & Samuel H. Elbert defines the word uku as: pay, payment, wages, fee, fare, toll, commission, reward, compensation, remittance, tuition, prize, fine, tax, installment, tribute; to pay, remunerate, compensate, repay, and revenge.

                          'uku in the hawaiian dictionary means louse, flea. small, tiny
                          Aloha Kakou, maluhia a me aloha mau loa (Hello everyone, peace and love forever)

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Definition of "uku"

                            Originally posted by achow
                            In the hawaiian dictionary by Mary Kawena Puku'i & Samuel H. Elbert defines the word uku as: pay, payment, wages, fee, fare, toll, commission, reward, compensation, remittance, tuition, prize, fine, tax, installment, tribute; to pay, remunerate, compensate, repay, and revenge.

                            'uku in the hawaiian dictionary means louse, flea. small, tiny
                            Wondering, then, how "uku" got its pidgin meaning of "lots of...", as in "uku pile X" or "uku billion X"?
                            http://www.pineapplejuice.net/freshly-squeezed

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Definition of "uku"

                              I've heard "uku million". I wonder if it's because there are usually a lot of lice, if one has lice or if it's because lice (or fleas) move/jump quickly so it looks like there are a lot of them.

                              My friend swears that her usage of "uku" is used in Nanakuli/Waianae and possibly Kalihi but so far no one else I've asked seems familiar with "tita kine uku".

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X